My flash drive is fucked, so fuck my life…
000
Tsareena was currently lying in her bed, still gorged in thought. She had inadvertently given Dhelmise an easy victory, resulting in him getting an advantage in the next challenge. She was so disappointed with herself.
How could she have been so… stupid? That was just a character that she would play! With a sigh, the Fruit Pokemon decided to get out of her bed and head down for a midnight snack.
Moving a section of her covers back, the leggy grass-type started moving toward her door. She was very nervous about this next challenge. What if she messes up again and gets eliminated? What if Dhelmise's advantage completely gets him into the final three again?
As she went down the hallway, her mind began to wander. In the case that Dhelmise won the next challenge, who will she be willing to get rid of? If it was a vote, that is. She already hated Dhelmise and knew that he'd be condescending and it for the long haul, but would she rather talk to and deal with Hakamo-o or Lycanroc.
She wasn't truly expecting to make it this far after returning, as those that return to competitions hardly ever make it any further. Lycanroc was very nice and friendly, which could very well guarantee her a win, as most shows have nice people win. Hakamo-o, on the other hand, was very brash and serious, which makes it less likely that she'll win.
"So, I guess I'll have to focus on outing Lycanroc," she muttered to herself as she approached the elevators. She sighed, pressing the down arrow button. As the doors opened, Tsareena stepped in and took a breath.
000
"I'm an analyst…" Tsareena said. "I'm not a bad person, but… if it comes down to me or one of them, it'll always be me, first…"
000
Hakamo-o was just lying in her bed, talking on her new phone. As the game's end grew nearer, she started growing more tense and anxious, which she really didn't like. She hated feeling this way; it just left her experiencing headaches and stress, especially with Dhelmise still being there.
As a result, she had decided to call Lucario to see how things were going with her and also vent a bit. She was the closest thing she had to an actual partner, so she decided, why not? Dialing the number Lucario gave her, she held her phone up to her ear. After receiving an answer, she heard the voice as Victini's and groaned to herself.
However, much to her surprise, Victini allowed the call. She just put her left arm behind her head as she stared at the ceiling of her room. Soon enough she heard the voice she wanted to hear. She decided to put it on speaker phone just for a better effect.
"Hey Lucario…" she greeted.
"Oh...hi," Lucario said, sounding too winded to actually sound awkward. "What's up?"
"Nothing, nothing," the Scaly Pokemon replied. "Just… calling to see how things are going down there…"
"Oh..." Lucario said on the other end, before a pause was heard. "I'm good. You?"
"Well, disregarding the fact that Incineroar's gone, and Tsareena fucked over our last challenge, practically handing Dhelmise an advantage… I guess I'm alright, too," she replied.
"Shit I just realized...if we both win we'll be LOADED," Lucario responded.
"I know!" Hakamo-o replied, her eyes wide. "It'll be great!"
"What do you want with the money, anyway?" Lucario asked. "I've never even considered the possibility of winning."
"Honestly… I have no idea," Hakamo-o admitted sheepishly. "I didn't think that far ahead. I was just hoping that I'd make it far, so I don't really have any major plans. Maybe get my own place."
"Same, honestly," Lucario said. "Hopefully if I get into that Pokken thing I'll actually have a job. I have to move out of my boyfriend's apartment and all."
"Yeah, I hope that goes well for you. I can probably help you out and teach you a few things, if you want. That way they'll never know what hit them," Hakamo-o chortled.
"I just hope I get in," Lucario said, sounding a little worried. "I've been training my ass off. I damn well better."
"Luca, you're a great battler. Plus, with that wild mega form of yours, they'll be stupid not to choose you," Hakamo-o replied.
"What about you though," Lucario asked. "Uh got a job or place we could...hang out?"
"Well, I've looked for a job before, but I don't really know what I'm good at…" Hakamo-o admitted, sounding a bit disappointed. "I mean, I can battle, sure, but I don't think I have any other qualities that'll make others really want to hire me. As for hanging out… we could just hang out in the rec center back home or… well… I don't know."
"Haha, yeah," Lucario said, cursing herself at being so awkward.
"So, has Tepig burned the island down a significant amount yet?" Hakamo-o jokingly queried.
"That's not funny," Lucario said, abruptly hanging up the phone.
Hakamo-o couldn't help but to snort at this. She immediately dialed the number back, waiting for the dial tone. It took a while, but the female jackal's voice was soon heard again.
"I see that I've triggered you…" Hakamo-o joked.
Lucario shuddered on the other end. "PTSD man."
"Hey, you should've been here from the beginning with everything Dhelmise has been saying and doing…" Hakamo-o replied. "He literally has Lunala and Solgaleo taking pills to deal with the headache that is his existence…"
Lucario sighed before yawning. "I bet. Well, I should head back and get some sleep. It's past midnight."
Glancing over at her clock, Hakamo-o saw that it was 12: 23 AM. She sighed. "Yeah, I think I'm gonna get some sleep, too."
"Alright, uh… hmm… I… I l-love you…" Lucario said, sounding very strained and awkward about the situation.
Hakamo-o blushed a deep crimson. "I… I love you… too…" Hakamo-o replied, sounding strained herself. "G'night…"
"Night…" Lucario replied quickly as they both hung up.
Hakamo-o rested her phone against her chest, still blushing. She'd never said that before, so she felt very very tense. This just proved that their relationship was serious. Now she had more of a reason to try and win.
000
"I'm in the final four, and now I have an official relationship," Hakamo-o started. She took a deep breath. "I'll have to try even harder to win this. I hope Lycanroc is able to bring the fight in the finale..."
000
Lycanroc was seen asleep in the tattered remnants of her room. Her bed covers were torn to shreds and strewn about as she lie over the edge of the bed. Her right hind leg twitched in her sleep.
000
The next day
000
As sunlight beamed through the drapes of his room, a certain ghost- and grass-type was beginning to awaken. Yawning, the Sea Creeper Pokemon floated off of his nail and smacked his non-existent lips.
The annoying anchor-seaweed combo felt very accomplished with how things have gone in the game. Not only had he managed to keep himself in the game for this long while pissing everyone off, he had another advantage because of Tsareena doing something stupid. It was so hilarious seeing Hakamo-o yell at her, and having Lycanroc fall under the same trance as the other Pokemon. It was a guarantee for him, no doubt.
He decided to switch the television on and watch some television. He hadn't really done that in a while. Flicking through the channels, he came across an episode of Kitchen Nightmares, which intrigued him. He just loved the insults the host gave the restaurant owners; sure, some were rather dull, but other times the arguments were priceless.
He decided to go ahead and head down to the cafe for his usual berry fix. He already knew that the other three finalists and the hosts hated his guts, but he didn't care. All he had to do now was let their hatred flow and screw them over.
Dhelmise floated toward his door. Phasing through it, he stopped in the hallway. He then floated down through the floor, stopping once he made it to the second floor. Being a ghost-type always had its perks.
He floated through the cafe doors and was surprised to see Tsareena sitting at a table. She was face down in a tub of Marshmallow Ice Cream, apparently asleep. He stifled his laughter. "Idiotic at one point, competent in the next. She is one fickle bitch…"
The agitator floated over to the fruit and grabbed his usual plate of berries, ignoring the snoozing Fruit Pokemon. He was surprised to see that it wasn't the same type of berries, but he wasn't complaining. He grabbed a few pink, flower-like berries with brown stems, and a couple of round green and pink berries.
Eerily whistling, he began heading back out of the cafe. As he approached the door, Hakamo-o and Lycanroc entered. Upon seeing their enemy, Hakamo-o glowered at him, while Lycanroc just gave him a nonchalant expression.
"Ladies…" he greeted as he passed by the two of them with his platter of berries.
As he left, Hakamo-o folded her arms, grumbling as her eyes followed him out and up through the ceiling. "Fucking bastard…"
Lycanroc nudged her in the shoulder, getting her attention. Following that, Lycanroc pointed toward Tsareena. "Are we just gonna ignore the fact that she's face down in a tub of ice cream?"
Hakamo-o scoffed. "Might as well," she responded, walking over to the food stations. "She's the reason that Dhelmise has an advantage in tonight's challenge."
Lycanroc sighed in exasperation; she walked over toward Tsareena's unconscious form. She began lightly shaking her in order to wake her. Tsareena jolted awake from the jostling and looked around, making Lycanroc take a couple of steps back.
Tsareena panted, looking around the room before looking at Lycanroc. "What the hell happened?"
As Lycanroc was about to explain, Hakamo-o chimed in ever so graciously. "You fell asleep with your fat face buried into a tub of ice cream… although it looks like something else…"
Lycanroc gave Hakamo-o a look before turning back to Tsareena. "You alright?"
Grabbing a napkin from the napkin dispenser on the table, Tsareena wiped the white cream off of her face. "Yeah, I'm alright. I'm just still so disappointed in myself…"
"Well, you gave-"
"Haka!" Lycanroc interrupted, giving her friend a look. "Pestering her about her mistake won't help anything. Plus, she's already feeling bad! You'd just be kicking her while she's down, which is something we condemn Dhelmise for doing!"
Hakamo-o gave Lycanroc a look. "Lyca, I'm nowhere near as bad as that waste of space. Look, I'm sorry that I'm nervous, okay? That bastard was in the final three, guaranteed, before and he only got it revoked because of his blabbermouth. Now that he's got an advantage and he's less likely to talk shit to us, he could very well make the final three again!"
"Well, we just have to ensure that his advantage isn't an advantage…" Tsareena explained.
"Yeah… like we were doing earlier while we were still in teams!" Lycanroc recalled, taking a seat. "Use the other team's advantage for our own!"
"That'll depend on what it is," Hakamo-o acknowledged as she stopped putting pieces of bacon on her plate. "It doesn't sound like that bad of an idea. And what makes it even better is that Dhelmise is the one who started that trend for us in the first place..."
"And what better way to take him out… then by using his own tactic," Lycanroc added, hoping to make both girls feel a bit better. She was still very nervous about the situation herself, but she simply tried to keep her head on straight and remain level-headed and cool, just as she was throughout the game up until the Victini cast crossover.
"Well," Tsareena started, gazing up at the clock on the wall. It was 9:19 ante meridiem, and on Mondays, challenges were at night, so they had about eleven or twelve hours before any of this could really happen. "We've got more than ten hours until we're able to put this plan into effect. What do we do until then?"
"Well, I'm going back to bed…" Hakamo-o replied as he started taking her plate out of the cafe.
"You going back to bed?" Lycanroc queried, surprised to hear that. "That's new…"
"I stayed up until around midnight talking to Lucario…" Hakamo-o explained breezily.
Upon hearing that, Lycanroc's eyes widened and she gasped upon hearing that. She swiftly rushed over to Hakamo-o and held her by the shoulders. "Tell… me… everything…"
Hakamo-o had to stifle a giggle, however, she still kept a straight face. "Calm down, girl," she teased. "It wasn't that big of a deal."
"That big. So, technically, it's still a big deal," Lycanroc playfully pried.
Hakamo-o gave her friend a look that said 'really?'. Upon seeing this look, Lycanroc could only giggle. "Come on, seriously. Did you guys finally come to an agreement or something?"
"Uh…" Hakamo-o looked at Tsareena from the corner of her eye. "We can talk back on our floor…"
Lycanroc rose a brow in confusion; she looked at Tsareena, who started walking toward the breakfast food. Nevertheless, she decided to respect the Scaly Pokemon's wishes, nodding in agreement.
The two of them proceeded to exit the cafe, leaving Tsareena alone. Looking back over, the Fruit Pokemon shrugged her shoulders.
000
"It isn't my business how their relationships are going. I am simply here to test, observe, and - hmmm… actually, in that case, relationships would be interesting to test. Her significant other isn't here, but it wouldn't hurt…" Tsareena reasoned. "And Dhelmise… well, like Lycanroc planned, we'll just use his advantage against him…"
"This should be interesting…"
000
Exiting the elevator, Lycanroc playfully slumped onto Hakamo-o's back, almost making her drop her platter. "So… gimme the deets. What'd you two talk about?"
Hakamo-o shook her head at her friend's impatience. "Question. Would you tell me about these kinds of things if our situations were reversed?"
"Of course I would!" Lycanroc chirped, chortling a bit. "Why would I not?"
"Oh I don't know… maybe for privacy?!" Hakamo-o retorted as they reached the dragon- and fighting-type's room.
"Haka… we're on television…" Lycanroc replied, pointing to the cameras in the corners of the hall. "I don't think privacy is a prerogative…"
Hakamo-o let out a sigh before entering her room, with Lycanroc following. The effervescent lupine hopped onto the edge of Hakamo-o's bed, lying on her stomach. She groaned in comfort. "So soft…"
Hakamo-o ignored her comment as got back into her bed, draping the covers back over lower body. She didn't say anything and just started gnawing on a piece of bacon. Lycanroc, seeing her demeanor, started feeling a bit bad about prying. She was just playing around.
She got up and crawled toward the head of the bed before taking a seat next to her; she didn't place the covers over herself as well, though. "Uh… sorry for bugging you so much... You don't have to tell me anything. It's your and Lucario's business," she apologized after seeing her expression.
Hakamo-o, hearing the apology, let out a playful sigh and wrapped her right arm around the wolf's shoulders. "You're alright. Just… try to lay off a bit, okay?"
Lycanroc smiled, nuzzling her friend. "Well, I'll get out of your hair…" Lycanroc replied, preparing to get out of her bed.
"No, no, I just said you're alright," Hakamo-o giggled, patting her back. "I'll tell you what's been going on…"
Lycanroc's tail wagged slightly.
000
Numerous hours later, Lunala awoke in a vicinity that she was familiar with, but was surprised that she was still there. She let out a screechy yawn before folding the sheet corner back and levitating out of the bed.
She was in a completely black room with a red ceiling and floor, the red paint oozing down the sides. The room was pentagonal, which was very strange, and there was a pentagram-like symbol carved into the wall. A television was hanging on the wall over the pentagram, which was showing static, but had no sound.
The bed was relatively… uncomfortable. The mattress wasn't soft at all, and the sheets were pretty itchy. There was a rug made entirely of rusty nails near the door. Lunala looked at the cracked clock, seeing that it was nearing 9 post meridiem, she sighed, just as the owner of the room opened it.
Lunala gained a salacious grin as Yveltal entered the door. "Hey there~."
Yveltal blinked. "What are you still doing in here?" he asked gruffly, ignoring her greeting. "Shouldn't you be doing your stupid show by now?"
Lunala's mood quickly switched. "Well, I was about to leave when you came in. Just… felt like greeting, I guess…"
Yveltal just blinked in response; the two of them stared at each other for a while. Yveltal held an irritated expression, while Lunala still had a small smile on her face. Eventually though, Yveltal flew forward and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Get out…" he stated demandingly.
Lunala nodded, stifling a giggle. "Right. Uh… love you…"
Yveltal gave her a look. The Destruction Pokemon wasn't one to show love or care for anything or anyone; he only cared for the pain, death, and or misery of others. However, despite his usual sadistic and deadpan personality, he harbored positive feelings toward the Moone Pokemon.
With a groan, he mumbled, "I love you, too," to her. Lunala kissed his cheek before teleporting away.
000
The elevator doors opened, with Dhelmise whistling an old pirate melody as he exited them. As he headed toward the usual lobby chair he rested in, a blue light radiated in the middle of the lobby. Knowing what this meant, Dhelmise groaned to himself in both annoyance and confusion. The challenges usually started a bit later, allowing him to get a nap in the lobby chair in.
Lunala, upon seeing Dhelmise already there, scowled. She didn't even want to interact with the jerky Sea Creeper Pokemon, so his mere presence was giving her an ulcer.
Floating past him, Lunala went toward the front desk. She pressed the button down. "CONTESTANTS! COME ON DOWN! IT'S ABOUT TIME FOR YOUR NEXT CHALLENGE!"
After making the announcement, she decided to wait at the desk for them to come down. Her eyes were shooting daggers at the ghost- and grass-type, who proceeded to float over and rest in the lobby chair.
"Someone's particularly bitchy tonight… she really needs to get laid. Unless she's PMSing… ," Dhelmise thought to himself.
After a minute or two, the elevator doors opened, and Lycanroc, Hakamo-o, and Tsareena proceeded out of them, allowing Lunala to fly forward and get back into her usual position. She cleared her throat. "Greetings ladies… and piece of shit…"
Dhelmise rolled his eyes. It was a given at this point.
"Prepare yourself for one of two challenges before the penultimate challenge…" Lunala hosted.
Hakamo-o chuckled, cracking her knuckles. "Bring it on!"
Lycanroc smirked, folding her arms. Tsareena kept a dazed expression, all the while thinking of possible strategies to out Lycanroc in the next challenge, whatever it was.
Dhelmise didn't show any particular care for the notice.
"Now, let's head to Ula'Ula Island, and I'll explain the challenge there…"
A bright blue light enveloped the five of them before they each vanished.
000
The final four, and Lunala appeared in front of what looked like a store of sorts. The building had blue walls, and normal, beige brick pillars aiding in its structure. There was a pokeball-like front wall. Blue fences, the same tint of blue as the building's walls, were surrounding the area.
"Welcome to the Thrifty Megamart! The site of your next challenge!" Lunala introduced.
"The abandoned grocery store?" Lycanroc queried. "I mean, no complaints, but… it's weird."
Lunala gazed tentatively at her. "It'll be fine. Now, you each will be given a list of 'groceries' that you will have to retrieve from the inside of the store. Once you retrieve one of the items, you must run back out, get down to the beach, and swim toward the lighthouse. There, you will see four different baskets with your names on them. Then, you must swim back and repeat the process until your list is finished."
"Really? Glorified grocery shopping? This is what the challenge quality has come down, too?" Dhelmise thought annoyedly to himself.
"And Dhelmise, you are NOT allowed to levitate over the water…" Lunala said with a piercing gaze toward him.
"Figures…"
"And you all had better be quick when searching for your grocery items, because this is an automatic elimination challenge!" Lunala announced. "The last player to get all of their groceries will be going home…"
The contestants' eyes all widened. Dhelmise grinned to himself on the inside, while Hakamo-o and Lycanroc exchanged confident expressions. Tsareena simply nodded.
"Now, for you guys' lists…" Lunala said as four lists appeared in front of her, floating in mid-air. Three out of the four lists went into the possession of Tsareena, Lycanroc, and Hakamo-o. "Now, as much as it pains to do this. Because Dhelmise won the previous challenge, he only has to retrieve half the amount of items that you girls have to retrieve…"
The final list went into the possession of the ghost- and grass-type, who was very satisfied. The girls glowered at him. They had to either sabotage him or do their best to find their items expeditiously.
"Now, inside of the mart, there are the standard shelves and produce sections, as well as carts. However, there are also boxes inside that may contain what you're looking for; you will have to dig deep and search every nook and cranny for certain items…" Lunala explained. "It's going to take a while, but I'm sure that you guys will be able to pull it off. And Dhelmise, again, you are not allowed to use any kinesis, ghostly influence, psychic influence, or really any influence that will make this challenge go by easy for you…"
"No playing smart… got it…" he finally responded in reality.
Lunala rolled her eyes. "Your challenge begins… NOW!"
Dhelmise swiftly floated into the mart, with the girls rushing after him.
000
Entering the mart, the four of them were immediately hit with a smell of rotting fruits and vegetables, as well as possible fecal matter from feral Pokemon that took residence there.
The mart was very disheveled and ugly to look at. The floor tiles were all murky, chipped, and some were missing from the floor altogether. The tiles were also coated in a sticky substance that stuck to the soles of their feet.
There was dust visible in the air, as well as some on the checkout counter. There were cobwebs around the store as well. The ambience in the vicinity was very ominous, with a soft, whirring noise being heard the entire time.
There were overturned, rusty carts lying around, as well as boxes that Lunala was talking about. The shelves were still stocked, strangely enough, with the ones that were leaning or completely on the ground dumping their contents on the floor.
"Well… this isn't creepy at all…" Lycanroc commented.
Dhelmise immediately started floating toward the back of the store, while Tsareena immediately started searching the shelves.
Hakamo-o and Lycanroc exchanged looks and started looking over their lists. Each list held eight items, minus Dhelmise's, who had half, meaning that he only had to find four measly items. Then, he'd easily qualify.
"Okay, what do we do?" Lycanroc inquired. "We don't want Dhelmise to win, but we still have to search for more stuff than him!"
"No, we don't, and yes, we do. I don't even know…" Hakamo-o replied. "We'll have to stop him whenever he makes it to the door. For now, let's just search. I have to find a… box of Honey Glazed Cinnamon Chunks…"
"Ooh~ those sound tasty…" Lycanroc commented before she gazed down at her list. "Meanwhile, I have to find toilet paper… Hooray," she remarked unenthusiastically.
"It doesn't matter what, we just have to hurry up," Hakamo-o expressed. "Now let's go!"
Lycanroc nodded before the two of them separated to look for their own separate items.
000
Tsareena overlooked her list. Her list consisted of: Cheesy Crackers, Malt Liquor, Bananas, Vienna Sausages, Cream Corn, Spaghetti Noodles, a Hairbrush, and a twelve-pack of Orange Soda.
With a sigh, she continued searching around the store, dumping contents that weren't what she needed onto the floor. She didn't care if the others needed it or not at this point. Dhelmise was bound to be done quickly… so there was no point in even trying to hinder him.
She was currently on the canned vegetables and fruit aisle, and seeing Lycanroc rush past her from behind really got her anxious. She knew that it'd be a betrayal, but it'd be necessary for her own survival.
She continued knocking over cans of beans, pears, and Pinap Berries. Moving down the aisle, she continued tossing cans out of the way in an attempt to find the corn section.
"Come on… I need to find these things fast…" she pushed herself as she continued moving along the aisle, eventually nearing the end of it. As she sidestepped down the aisle, she tripped over a box that was in the middle of it.
She grumbled as she picked herself up. She then recalled that Lunala said that boxes may hold some contents that may be on their lists. Tsareena quickly ripped the tape off of the opening of the cardboard box and moved the flaps back, only to reveal…
"Marshmallows?!" she groaned in aggravation as she dumped out the contents of the box. Twenty-five bags of marshmallows fell onto the sticky floor.
She started searching the opposite side of the shelves, and there, was a lone can of cream corn sitting on the top shelf. Smirking to herself, she swiftly grabbed it and started rushing toward the doors.
On her way, she felt a presence over her shoulder, but she continued until she reached the door. There, Dhelmise knocked her out of the way, a bottle of lotion floating beside him.
Tsareena gasped and growled before picking herself up yet again and rushing after him.
000
Lycanroc went down an aisle, glancing at the shelves on either side. This was the toiletry aisle, so she expected to see toilet paper, much to her surprise, though, there were cereal and cookie boxes sitting on the shelves.
"Hmm… Haka should be look over here…" she said to herself. "Hey! Haka! There's some cereal stuff on this aisle!"
Immediately, sticky footsteps were heard as Hakamo-o came from around a corner and rushed up to her. "What've you got?" she queried, stopping next to the Wolf Pokemon.
"Nothing, just cereal…" Lycanroc replied. "You didn't happen to see any toilet paper on the aisle you were on, did you?"
"No!" Hakamo-o responded, looking around. "This place is just screwed beyond repair. Nothing's where it's supposed to be…"
"Well, we need to hurry up and find something on our lists!" Lycanroc replied. "Tsareena and Dhelmise are already ahead! What else is on your list!?"
"Uh… other than the cereal, " Hakamo-o started, taking out her list once again. "...steak, towels, a toilet scrubber, lettuce, Chez Mix, Cream of Wheat, and oranges. What about you?"
"TP, chocolate milk, paper towels, muffins, Mint Gum, eggs, bacon, and Potato Chips…" Lycanroc read from her list before stuffing it back into her mane.
"Okay, so we just need to let each other know when and if we find anything from either of our lists!" Hakamo-o made known. "And maybe, we'll at least be able to beat Tsareena…"
Lycanroc nodded before they high-fived. Lycanroc decided to hurry and go to another aisle to scope things out. She went to the back of the store and turned to the left, seeing numerous soiled newspapers, alongside boxes. She rose a brow before heading toward them.
The boxes were soaked and reeked of mildew, which made her a bit hesitant about the state of the contents. Nevertheless, she swiftly opened one of the boxes and saw that it was full of fruit. Rotting fruit. The pungent smell hit her nose and made her whine momentarily; she swiftly closed the box.
Now she was worried about the other one. She swiped at it, creating claw marks on the side, allowing her to peer inside slightly. It looked like something wrapped in plastic, meaning that the smell was possibly held in. Peeling back the flaps, she saw numerous packs of college-rule paper.
"You've gotta be kidding me…" she mumbled to herself as she closed the box and pushed it back into its spot near the wall.
000
With Dhelmise only having to find four items, well three, considering he was already heading to the lighthouse, Hakamo-o was panicking in her head. She didn't want it to have it come down to herself and Lycanroc, because then she wouldn't know what to do.
She cared too much about Lycanroc at this point to just betray her, and Lycanroc wouldn't want to just take away her chance. So, they'd end up at a stand still.
She continued searching around, before finally identifying a sideways turned box. Its front was facing away from her, so she reached forward to grab it. Grabbing it, she brought it toward herself and saw that it was-
"Chez Mix!" she cheered to herself, face pumping.
She quickly started running out of the mart, running right into Dhelmise, who was sopping wet. The Sea Creeper Pokemon moved out of the way and went back into the mart. Hakamo-o growled before continuing on her way.
000
Dhelmise immediately floated toward the back of the store. His list consisted of lotion, marshmallows, Kool-Aid Mix, and parsley. He had found the lotion in almost no time flat, and on his way out, he saw a few spice canisters, meaning that he would likely get the parsley with ease.
Tsareena had tried attacking him in the water, but she failed and he was able to get back to the mart easily.
"These morons honestly have no idea what to do," Dhelmise chortled in his head as he went to the aisle where he last saw the spices. "Hmm… perhaps I should just get all of my items situated and just… yeah. That'll be perfect."
As he went down the aisle, he looked around and saw old, rusty tools sitting on the shelves, as well as pill bottles, tampons, and wet, cracked teapots. He groaned. "This is ridiculous, even for an abandoned store…"
He finally reached the spices, and started looking over the labels in order to identify the parsley. He saw Lycanroc move around the back in the corner of his 'eyes'. He would have attempted to do something to hinder her, but eh, no point at the moment.
"Let's see... turmeric, lemon pepper, ground black pepper, lemon salt, sea salt, cumin, nutmeg, cinnamon…" Dhelmise read as he lifted up every turned and high-placed canister. "Where the hell is the parsley?!"
Suddenly, soft creaking was heard as the shelves he was searching began lurching forward. Soon enough, it completely toppled over onto the ghost. On the other side of the shelves was Tsareena, who was sopping wet, and panting heavily.
Dhelmise phased through the shelves and glowered at the Fruit Pokemon in unamusement. At this point, he was sure that she was just playing a role. She had still given the her the benefit of the doubt during their swim, but what truly dumb person would push a shelf over someone on purpose? It would have been accidental at most.
"Well, I've gotta say, I'm impressed," Dhelmise said in his head, as Solgaleo's rule most likely transferred over to this challenge as well. He really wanted to rub it in, but the hosts still had a metaphorical choke hold on him. However, though he couldn't insult her vocally, they didn't say anything about mentally…
As Tsareena started walking toward another aisle, her legs emitting a slink sound every time she took a step. Dhelmise decided to follow her and heckle her all the while. Who knows? Maybe she'll lead him to something he needs.
"So, I can see that you've finally given up on that dumb bitch facade…" he said to her through telepathy, which caused her to stop in her tracks and clench her fists.
000
Tsareena couldn't believe it; this bastard actually figured her out?! She growled aggravatedly at him, turning around. "Fuck… off…"
"Aww… what's the matter?" she heard Dhelmise tease inside of her mind. "Upset that I figured out your little game?"
"I said… fuck off!" Tsareena retorted as she turned down a different aisle in order to look for more items. Strangely, she had gone down the same aisle that she had retrieved her corn from. However, the box that was full of marshmallows was no longer there, and neither were the cans of other foods.
This confused her majorly, and with Dhelmise in her head, heckling her, it didn't make things any better…
"I've gotta admit, you did a great performance. But, even so, I've gotta ask," Dhelmise started. "Why?"
Tsareena huffed as she looked around and saw a box of spaghetti noodles far back on a high shelf. "Are you fucking kidding me right now?!"
She began trying to leap up and grab
Dhelmise cleared his throat. "Well, I suppose I could be of assistance…"
Tsareena froze. Had she just heard that correctly? Dhelmise, the guy that intentionally made insensitive, derogatory, and downright annoying remarks to piss everyone off and put them down, was offering her help? She didn't buy it.
"Did I hear that correctly?" Tsareena queried. "You are offering me, assistance? Why?"
Dhelmise metaphorically shrugged. "You've gained my respect. Any girl brazen enough to fake her intelligence all the way into the final four is a good 'un on my account. Though, there was always a chance that you wouldn't get brought back, so I can't really extend my respect that far…"
Tsareena rolled her eyes. "Well, thanks for the offer, I guess, but I think I'll be able to work alone…"
"Whatever…" Dhelmise responded. "Though, I still want you to answer my question…"
"I don't have to explain myself to you…" Tsareena retorted with a glare as she started climbing up the shelf and reaching back for the box of spaghetti noodles.
Dhelmise snorted. "If you say so…" he said as he started floating away.
000
"That bastard figures me out and then randomly tries to help me?" Tsareena queried in bemusement. "Terrible…"
"How the hell did he find out anyway!?"
000
"Poor sap," Dhelmise stated. "I would have offered an allegiance with her in order to get rid of the other two. But, I guess she's more of a lone moron…"
000
Lycanroc, rather than just rushing back and forth and wasting time, decided to try and gather all of her items up first, similar to what Dhelmise wanted to do. So far she had gathered the carton of eggs, some paper towels, and an old, expired pack of TogeMint Gum.
Every time she went down an aisle, something changed. She then gazed tentatively at the checkout stations near the front and noticed a few drawers and small shelves around them. She rose a brow and started heading toward them.
The stickiness of the floor and the sound emitted from her pawsteps caused her to become a bit annoyed, so she hurried and made it up to the stations. Crouching down to check the first one, she plugged her nose, as she identified an old, rotten, half-eaten burger sitting underneath it. There was also a spray bottle full of of an unidentified cleaning solution.
Sighing, Lycanroc got back onto her feet and proceeded on to the next one. As she did, she happened to look in the doorway and saw Hakamo-o emerge, panting and sopping wet.
"Arceus, that fucking sucks…" the Scaly Pokemon remarked before letting out a few coughs as she proceeded toward Lycanroc.
It sure had taken Hakamo-o a while to make it back. Lycanroc had found three out of her eight items already for crying out loud! As Hakamo-o headed her way, Tsareena sped out of the mart, causing the red wolf to start feeling a bit of anxiety.
"You find anything while I was gone?" Hakamo-o inquired.
"Huh? Uh… yeah. I ended up finding three of my things and now I'm searching these ," Lycanroc explained.
"Oh…" Hakamo-o drawled, hoping to hear that she had found at least one of her items for her. That was their agreement, right?
"And… I did see a few of your things like the cereal, but when I went down the aisle again, it was gone…" Lycanroc explained.
"What?!"
"Yeah, it's weird…" Lycanroc continued as she dragged out a box that was underneath the second station.
Hakamo-o groaned as she looked around the vicinity. "This whole place is weird… and crummy…" she remarked kicking a lone pebble that was near her.
"Don't forget sticky," Lycanroc added, placing a paw onto the counter of the station and lifting it up, producing a velcro-esque sound. Hakamo-o sighed. "I'm gonna go look again and see if I can find any of my other things…"
Upon hearing that, Lycanroc halted the box opening in order to catch up with her. She rushed up behind her and grasped onto her back, wrapping her arms around her neck playfully. "Here's a tip; I've been looking for all of my things so I can just make the trips to and from the lighthouse easy."
Hakamo-o nodded. "Thanks…"
Lycanroc pat her back before heading back toward the front. As she went back up to it, she noticed that the box was now open and the contents were gone. However, colorful powders were seen inside of the box. Lycanroc growled softly as she gazed toward the door, seeing Dhelmise floating away .
000
Hakamo-o had stopped in the aisle she was in, reaching down in order to pick up a can of Cream of Wheat. "Alright, cool…" she commented to herself as she got back up. She headed toward the back end of the store, eyeing an overturned shopping cart over another box.
She approached it and immediately felt herself being shoved back by an unseen force. "What the hell?" she asked herself as the can of Cream of Wheat in her hand started floating up and out of it. She leapt up, grabbing onto it, resulting in her floating up with it. Lunala didn't mention anything about this kind of thing happening.
"WHOA!" Hakamo-o exclaimed as she was suddenly flipped and slammed onto the ground, her hand still holding onto the can. Groaning, the dragon- and fighting-type growled angrily. "DHELMISE! I SWEAR IF THIS IS YOUR DOING-!"
She didn't get a response, which she had figured would be the case if it was him. "You doing this is just gonna get you eliminated, so feel free to continue…" Hakamo-o responded cockily as she got onto her feet.
Immediately afterwards, she was thrown into the shelves, causing a domino effect that knocked all of them over. Groaning, Hakamo-o growled, getting onto her feet once again as the can floated in front of her face before beginning to spin around her head.
Getting annoyed, Hakamo-o snatched it and used Shadow Claw, which, surprisingly, made contact with something. A Gengar was seen on the ground, groaning. Seeing this, Hakamo-o glowered at the Shadow Pokemon. "What the hell was that about?!"
In response, the Gengar immediately disappeared again, making Hakamo-o facepalm herself.
000
"I have to say… this challenge is the worst…" Hakamo-o commented, folding her arms.
000
Dhelmise had seen the box Hakamo-o dragged from the checkout station. He had opened it up and found that it was filled with Kool-Aid packs. He immediately levitated all of them out of the box and headed out. However, as he went down the ramp and onto the beach, the problem arose.
"Thin packs of kool-aid… going into a large body of water…" Dhelmise said to himself. "This is going to be shitty as all hell…"
The anchor floated into the water and started floating at a normal pace toward the lighthouse, just as he did before. The raging rapids and the crashing of the waves caused a bit of a hindrance for him and almost caused him to lose the packs he had.
After a while, he finally made it to the lighthouse and emerged from the torrent. He eyed his basket and dropped the packs into it before heading back down into the water. As the Sea Creeper Pokemon made his way back to the shore, negative thoughts began entering his mind. However, they weren't negative thoughts about himself, but rather about how this challenge would play out.
"I'm floating and levitating things because of my lack of available limbs, but that bitch may just decide to cheat me out and say that I broke her shitty rules…" he thought to himself. "Or those dumb bitches may find my things and decide to toss them out or sabotage my items up here."
"I love how if I do or say something unflattering, I'm considering a nuisance and hindrance when I'm just playing the damn game and having my own fun," Dhelmise spoke to himself. He then began thinking broader about how other shows like this go.
000
"I find it funny how people in these stupid shows and the equally idiotic viewers think that because a person manipulates, calculates, says something 'mean', or plans out how they are going to play the game, they're a horrible being that deserves to be hated and get karma," Dhelmise stated. "IT'S CALLED PLAYING THE DAMN GAME! Sheesh, people act like every single competition needs to be nothing but good guys who are going to use the money for charity or some other generic bullshit."
"You are supposed to play smart. You are supposed to try and make it far. People are GOING TO LOSE. THAT IS THE POINT OF A COMPETITION! If you're butthurt about anything someone else or maybe even I have done in these bullshit torture-fest competition, then you'll never make it far in life. Life is not all sunshine and lollipops, bitches. People are able to be mean and negative, too."
000
Tsareena had already been swimming toward the lighthouse when Dhelmise placed his packs into his basket. She cursed to herself as she eventually made it to the lighthouse and tossed the box of spaghetti into her own basket, all the while panting erratically.
She took note of Dhelmise's basket. His two, soaked, items sitting there, completely in the open. She looked around, as if expecting to see someone, before looking back down at the basket of the pestiferous player.
"Hmm… there aren't any rules against sabotage… for us anyway…" Tsareena reasoned before she attempted to kick Dhelmise's basket off of the lighthouse base. When she did so, the basket simply shifted a bit, not moving from its spot.
"What the-" the Fruit Pokemon bent down to pick up her own basket, but found that it didn't budge either. In doing this, she realized that the baskets were likely superglued or forced to stay down by some other means. "Fuuuuuuuck…"
With a sigh, she swiftly ran down and dove into the water, swimming back to the shore.
000
Lycanroc had finally found a single roll of toilet paper in one of the aisles. She had finally identified the trick. Whenever anyone went down an aisle, everything on it changed, so she simply entered and backed out of aisles until she found items that she needed, which included a pack of bacon, a box of mini-muffins, and the toilet paper.
The wolf stashed her items in an empty box she had found near the back door of the mart. She hadn't really thought to look there at all, as it seemed to be useless if the aisles were a thing. She thought about it momentarily before seeing her box topple over suddenly.
She jumped a bit and rose a brow. "What the- How did-" she went over and started placing the muffins and bacon back into the box, only for her to be thrown back and her box to eject all of her items. The egg carton, upon impact, opened and cracked numerous eggs, making the Wolf Pokemon growl. "What the hell was that?!"
Hakamo-o, hearing her friend's outcry, peaked around the corner of the aisle she was on to see what was going on. Upon seeing her friend's toilet paper, paper towels, and gum begin moving in a vertical circle, she knew what it was. "HEY! GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM THE FOODSTUFFS AND WIPING ITEMS!"
Immediately, the items were dropped onto the floor as Lycanroc got back onto her feet. She looked at Hakamo-o with bemusement. "Uh...what was that?" she asked as she went to pick up her items once again.
"Lunala forgot to mention that there was a jackass Gengar running around trying to sabotage us…" Hakamo-o explained. "I uh… might have attacked him every single time he fucked with me. Didn't you freaking hear me constantly cursing and slamming into things?!"
"Yes, and when I asked what was wrong, you didn't answer…" Lycanroc replied with a smug expression.
Hakamo-o grumbled to herself. "But yeah, that prick had better mess with Dhelmise and Tsareena because it is NOT costing me this game…"
Lycanroc giggled at this. "And have you found any more of your items yet?" she teased.
"Uh… well… I found my toilet scrubber, a crate of oranges, and a stack of washing towels…" Hakamo-o explained, pointing to the first checkout station near the front, where those three items, including the Cream of Wheat from earlier, sat. "And luckily, with that stupid Gengar and Dhelmise in check, we're scot-free.
"Yeah… but- Tsareena is still in the competition, and if Dhelmise-"
"I heard my name…" the anchor said as he made himself seen. "What's going on?"
Hakamo-o scoffed. "None of your business, jackass…"
Dhelmise smacked his non-existent lips. "Y'know if Solgaleo hadn't put this damned threat over my head, i'd destroy you…" he replied before simply floating away.
"Asshole…" Hakamo-o grumbled before turning back to Lycanroc, who had to count up and make sure all of her items were accounted for. "How many more things do you need?"
"Just chips and Chocolate Milk," Lycanroc replied. "Huh, two things that sound surprisingly good right about now…"
"Well we'll eat after we're in the final three…"Hakamo-o responded, patting her back.
"Well, you'd better hurry and find your last few items then before Tsareena-"
Tsareena suddenly came in, panting like mad from the swim. She immediately headed down the first aisle she saw, identifying a small can of Vienna Sausages on the middle shelf. She grabbed it and prepared to head back out of the mart. However, she noticed that there was a hairbrush underneath the checkout station closest to the door.
"Lunala said that you had to take the items one at a time… but she didn't say from where…" she thought as she grabbed the hairbrush. Hakamo-o and Lycanroc went to the front just as she rushed back out.
"Did she just find her next thing that fast?!" Lycanroc rhetorically queried.
"Why yes she did…" Dhelmise said, leaving the furthest aisle with a bag of marshmallows and a shaker of parsley. "She's been faking her stupidity the entire time apparently…"
The girls had to act surprised and shocked, but they just couldn't bring themselves to worry about that when Dhelmise had his last two items!
"Hey, dipshit! Lunala said one at a time!" Hakamo-o growled. "What the hell are you doing!?"
Dhelmise ignored her, just continuing out of the mart.
Hakamo-o growled before turning to Lycanroc. "We need to hurry! Maybe we won't beat Dhelmise, but we can for sure beat Tsareena!"
Lycanroc nodded before they rushed back into the mart.
000
Tsareena had lightly buried her can of Vienna Sausages in a sand mound before swimming with her hairbrush. After placing it into her basket, she looked back at the shore and saw Dhelmise enter the water.
She growled as she dove into the water and rightfully, swam underneath in order to deal with Dhelmise. Once he was close enough, Tsareena's body glowed blue and she began swimming much faster. Dhelmise, seeing this, groaned in annoyance.
He simply floated upwards which, surprisingly, didn't help him out. Tsareena successfully struck him with Acrobatics, incapacitating the ghost- and grass-type.
The parsley, was simply floating down in the sand, which was perfectly fine with Tsareena. She quickly swam back toward the surface before continuing to swim to the shore.
000
"Easy…" Tsareena said rather braggadociously, whipping her hair back.
000
"And… GOT IT!" Hakamo-o exclaimed, grabbing the box of Honey Glazed Cinnamon Chunks. " That's my last thing! Now you just need your chocolate milk and you'll be fine!"
"Yeah, but you just go ahead, I'll be okay," Lycanroc assured. "I'm gonna check the back room because it felt a bit cold back there when I got everything back in my box…"
"Well… alright," Hakamo-o said, sounding very worried. "Just be careful. Hearing people go on their own ands say they'll be okay is usually recipe for disaster…"
"Pfft," Lycanroc replied, waving a paw. "I'll be fine…"
Hakamo-o nodded. "Alright. I'll see you in the finals…"
Hakamo-o flipped over an old cart, which still all of its wheels, and started piling her items inside. While she did that, Lycanroc headed toward the back room. She initially denounced checking it, but she decided to see what it held anyway. If it was empty, the aisles were still a thing. If there were things inside, good news for them.
Lycanroc made it to the back room, with her box still sitting there. She attempted to open the door, but found that it was stuck. The knob was twisting, but it was highly likely that something was blocking the door.
"Well, if this is the case…" Lycanroc started before she picked up her box and started moving away. "If that door doesn't want to be entered, I'll look somewhere else for the milk…"
Tsareena, having made it back to retrieve a few of her items first, heard that and looked to her side. There was a full jug of chocolate milk on the bottom shelf beside her. Last time she checked, Hakamo-o was rolling her cart outside, so Lycanroc had to be the target. Well, unless she decided to do something to Hakamo-o instead.
Tsareena decided to leave it be for now, as it'd disappear once the aisle was re-entered. She picked up a twelve-pack of orange soda before heading back toward the front door. It was pretty heavy, making her unsure about how she was going to swim with it.
Lycanroc started heading back toward the front, resting her box onto the nearest station. She went down the middle aisle, and began moving back and forth through it in order to try and find her final item.
000
Dhelmise groaned to himself as he regained consciousness while under water. He shook himself off and looked around, taking note of where he was. "What the hell?"
The last thing he remembered was that Tsareena attacked him and he blacked out. He growled in agitation, but then realized that he didn't have his canister of parsley anymore. There were two possibilities. Either Tsareena stole it and hid it, or it was somewhere in the sand below.
He looked up and noticed that Hakamo-o was swimming toward the lighthouse. He knew that he would get called out for sabotaging them, so he just decided to cut out the middleman and just go down deeper to search for his parsley.
He made it to the bottom of the ocean and started sifting through the sediment and sand at the bottom, using his anchor as a plow. After a few minutes, Dhelmise was able to retrieve his container of parsley, which was partially cracked.
"Ugh… dirty little…" he grumbled to himself before swimming toward the large rock on which the lighthouse stood, the parsley floating around him. He looked up and saw Hakamo-o swimming back toward the shore. He 'swam' upwards and started heading up the lighthouse, tossing the parsley into his basket.
He remained silent for the rest of the way. There was no use is saying anything or thinking negatively if there was nothing he could do. He originally didn't care about winning at all, and he was only here to have his own fun heckling and insulting others. At this point, since he practically banned from doing it, he was going to just play the game and ignore the others.
000
"Yep, I can get knocked out, but I can't do anything to retaliate because Solgaleo will kick me out the next time he hosts the challenge…" Dhelmise said. "Wonderful. This is fairness, guys."
"We'll see how they feel when I win. I'm going to burn the money right in front of them and make it so it all meant nothing. That way I win twice," he chuckled.
000
The ghost- and grass-type made it to the shore just as Hakamo-o started swimming again. Dhelmise also saw that Tsareena was nearing the lighthouse and seemed to be struggling a bit. He went behind the rock and got his last pack of marshmallows before going right back into the water.
-000-
Lycanroc rolled her own cart down to the beach, seeing all of her fellow competitors in the water. She took a breath and grabbed the carton of eggs first before jumping into the water as well.
After searching all of the aisles until certain items appeared more than once, Lycanroc was finally able to get her chocolate milk jug.
000
It was an all-out swimming competition at this point. Tsareena panted as she placed the twelve-pack of soda into her basket. She rushed back and dove into the water. She passed by Hakamo-o without saying a word and, unluckily, she had caught a glimpse of Dhelmise rising up from the water and placing his parsley into his basket earlier. So now he needed just one more.
At this point, she couldn't do anything, so she just focused on getting her objects. On her way back, she spied Lycanroc, causing her eyes to widen. She growled to herself before gaining an idea that'd make her go faster.
"C'mon…" she said before diving under the water and using Acrobatics once again, causing her to speed forward, kicking her legs forcefully in order to propel her. Eventually, the Fruit Pokemon made it to the shore. She looked at the two carts that held Lycanroc's and Hakamo-o's groceries and growled to herself. She quickly started heading back toward the mart in order to procure her remaining three items.
000
Hakamo-o tossed her head of lettuce into her basket before rushing back and jumping into the water to head back.
Dhelmise emerged from the water and tossed his bag of marshmallows into his basket. Immediately, an air horn was heard and a flag rose from the center of his basket.
"YES!" he cheered to himself. Lycanroc saw the flag rise, as Hakamo-o stopped and turned back. The two had ended up stopping relatively close to each other. Hakamo-o groaned, punching the water. The two friends exchanged looks before nodding and continuing to swim to their different places.
000
Tsareena had to run back and forth through the aisles in order to find her items. She retrieved her bananas from the first aisle, and she started searching different boxes that she found strewn about. She went toward the back to search two boxes that were stacked on top of each other.
"Okay, I have time. It'll take a while for them to get everything to the lighthouse…" Tsareena said to herself as she opened the top box, which was smaller than the bigger one. Inside of that box… was another box. A box of crackers.
"Yes! Thank Arceus!" she cheered to herself as she took out the box of cheesy crackers. "Alright, now I just need the liquor…"
000
Hakamo-o was swimming toward the lighthouse once again, floating with the crate of oranges in front of her. Lycanroc swam ahead of her, her box of muffins being the next thing she was bringing.
Hakamo-o was having a bit of trouble, so Lycanroc decided to help her out a bit, swimming toward her. Upon making it, Hakamo-o questioned her logic.
"Lycanroc, what are you doing!? You need to worry about getting your own things!" Hakamo-o insisted. "I'm just fine!"
"Haka, a good majority of my things are light…" Lycanroc reasoned. "It'll be fine."
"No, it won't! Tsareena already has half of her things in her basket and you only have three…" Hakamo-o replied. "I don't want you-"
"Just kick…" Lycanroc said, tossing her box of muffins onto the crate of oranges.
Hakamo-o groaned and just continued to swim, pushing the crate with Lycanroc by her side.
000
"Hey, it wasn't that big of a deal," Lycanroc said with a shrug. "Haka had a good amount of her things there already, so me helping her isn't that bad."
"Plus, I'm a pretty strong swimmer. But, if Tsareena beats me… well, good on her."
000
Once they made it to the lighthouse, Hakamo-o brought the crate up and set it atop of the basket, making it count for her. Lycanroc took her box of muffins off before tossing it into her own basket.
"Alright, I just need to get two more of my things…" Hakamo-o said before turning to Lycanroc. "And since you helped me with the crate, I'm gonna help you when I'm down to my last item…"
Dhelmise, seeing this display, 'rolled his eyes'. The two girls swiftly ran back down and jumped into the water again.
000
Tsareena came down to the beach with the liquor, bananas, and cheesy crackers. She put down the liquor and crackers before immediately jumping into the water with the bananas in her hand.
Using her same technique as before, she used Acrobatics, propelling herself toward the lighthouse with relative ease and swiftness. Within seconds, she was at the lighthouse. She rushed up the rocks and placed the bananas into her basket.
Immediately after doing so, she ran back down and began swimming back to the shore. Dhelmise, taking note of her swiftness, rose a brow. Looking out toward the shore, he saw Hakamo-o and Lycanroc start swimming back over to the lighthouse. He then saw Tsareena emerge from the water not even ten seconds later!
"What the…"
After she retrieved her next item and dove into the water again, Dhelmise started counting in his head. He didn't even make it to seven, as Tsareena emerged at the edge of the lighthouse and started climbing up.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"That's for me to know… and for you to not figure out…" Tsareena retorted before tossing the crackers into her basket.
The Fruit Pokemon rushed back toward the water, with Hakamo-o and Lycanroc having shocked expressions as they continued swimming.
Eventually, the two of them made it up, with Hakamo-o putting her toilet scrubber into her basket, and Lycanroc tossing her paper towels into her ownbasket.
"Alright, now I can help you out…" Hakamo-o said.
"Uh, hate to break it to you, but you can't help her," Dhelmise spoke up. "Lunala said one at a time…"
"She didn't say that we couldn't help each other, so shut your fucking mouth!" Hakamo-o growled before running back down, with Lycanroc in tow. However, Tsareena was coming up as well, holding up her bottle of liquor.
"Well, looks like I'm in the finals, too…" Tsareena said before placing her bottle into the basket.
Much to her surprise, what happened with Dhelmise didn't happen with her. There was no flag, no air horn, nothing…"
"Ha! Nice try!" Hakamo-o said before she and Lycanroc rushed into the water.
"What the-" Tsareena started checking her basket. "Crackers, liquor, bananas, corn, noodles, hairbrush, soda. That's seven things… what was my eighth?!"
Dhelmise chortled. Tsareena clenched her firsts. "FUCK!"
Tsareena had left her list inside of the store, as she had memorized everything, or so she thought. Once she was in the water, she started propelling herself forward again using Acrobatics.
000
"Alright, come on!" Hakamo-o said, holding onto both her pack of steak, and Lycanroc's potato chips. Lycanroc had her chocolate milk jug, and two immediately went back into the water just as Tsareena emerged from the water and rushed toward the mart.
"Hurry!" Hakamo-o exclaimed as she and Lycanroc started swimming to the the lighthouse.
000
Tsareena, entering the mart again, groaned as the smell, which was much stronger now, hit her. She started looking around the mart for her list, eventually finding it near a produce section. "Okay, let's see…"
She gasped in realization. "The sausages!"
Dropping her list, she quickly began exiting the mart again.
000
Hakamo-o and Lycanroc swam as if Sharpedo were after them, making it to the lighthouse in no time flat. The Scaly Pokemon ran up and tossed her back of steak into the basket.
The air horn blared and a flag rose up in her basket. She smiled to herself before tossing Lycanroc's potato chips into her basket as she put her chocolate milk jug into it.
A splashing sound was heard as Tsareena emerged from the water holding her final item: her Vienna Sausages, which she had buried prior to keep others from sabotaging her.
Seeing this, Hakamo-o quickly stopped her in her tracks. She didn't want to do this, but it seemed the most necessary. "Tsareena… I need to ask you something…"
"Uh, I need to put this-"
"It's about that!" Hakamo-o exclaimed, a bit irked that the Fruit Pokemon cut her off. "Can you just… wait until Lycanroc has a fair chance?"
"Haka…" Lycanroc started, walking up. "If Tsareena made it here fair and square, you can't just ask her to do that…"
Hakamo-o sighed and turned to her friend. "Lycanroc, please. We all wanted to get rid of this wretched bastard," she said, pointing to Dhelmise. "And since it went wrong, wouldn't it be better if it was a fair-"
"Um… sorry to interrupt, but-" Dhelmise started, getting the twosome's attention.
Suddenly, an air horn blared, making the two of them gape in shock. Tsareena had moved away from them and put her can of sausages into her basket, causing the air horn to ring out and her flag to rise.
"Tsareena, you…"
"I'm sorry," Tsareena started, "but, we all have a need for self-preservation, and in this matter, I required it the most…"
"You… you fucking-!"
Before she could continue, she felt a paw on her shoulder. She turned and saw that Lycanroc had a small smile on her face. "Haka, it'll be fine…"
"But, she-"
"She did what anyone else who wants to win would do," Lycanroc said. "You can't fault her for that…"
"OH, BUT YOU CAN FAULT ME FOR ELIMINATING-"
Dhelmise was cut off by a Dragon Pulse to the face. Hakamo-o growled, tears beginning to form in her eyes as she clenched her fists. Lycanroc, seeing how her friend was acting, walked forward and hugged her. Hakamo-o immediately broke down, hugging her back.
Tsareena looked down, feeling a pang of guilt, while Dhelmise was still regaining his composure from the Dragon Pulse.
"I'm gonna miss you…" Hakamo-o choked out.
Lycanroc rubbed her back. "I'll miss you, too."
Lunala appeared before them, panting a bit. Upon seeing who was in and who wasn't, a glare appeared on her face. "Of FUCKING course…!"
"Yep… Lycanroc's gone now and I am still in. Congratulations to myself…" Dhelmise said. "Now, if you don't mind, I'll be back at the hotel…"
The Sea Creeper Pokemon seemingly teleported away from the group. Hakamo-o glowered, tears still falling from her face, before turning to Lunala. "Can't you just disqualify that piece of shit?! He was floating things around and you said no influences that'd make it easy for him!"
"He moves by floating around. It wouldn't be fair to borderline cripple him for the challenge, no matter how much of a no-good, foul-mouthed, egotistical, assholish, dysfunctional, aggravating, piece of shit he is…"
Lycanroc pat Hakamo-o's back, only for her to hug her again.
"Well, Lycanroc, when we get back, it'll be time for you to go. It was nice having you here and I honestly wish that you weren't leaving…" Lunala admitted.
"I'm pretty sure everyone wishes that…" Tsareena commented.
Hakamo-o growled at her.
"Well, let's head back-"
"Actually…" Lycanroc started. "I think I'll just stay on this island. I mean, Incineroar and his boyfriend live here, so maybe I can go and see them. That way there's at least one positive for someone!"
"Well, uh… I suppose…" Lunala said. "Hakamo-o, Tsareena, are you two ready to go?"
Tsareena nodded, while Hakamo-o was just looking down.
"Hakamo-o?"
Seeing her unresponsiveness, Lycanroc sighed. "I'll handle it," said Lycanroc as she took Hakamo-o to the edge of the lighthouse.
Lunala nodded, while Tsareena sighed.
-000-
"Haka… you're gonna be okay," Lycanroc admitted. "I believe in you…"
"That doesn't mean anything. You're not gonna be around…" Hakamo-o responded, her voice shaky.
"Hakamo-o… we're gonna see each other in the finale again…" Lycanroc said. "Plus, I gave you my number, and you know where I live. Just like how I know where you live. Outside of this game, I'm sure that we're still gonna be connected, no matter what…"
Hakamo-o looked down. "It's just so fucked up and unfair! Dhelmise talks shit and belittles everyone and he gets to fucking stay while all of the good people get the shaft!"
Lycanroc sighed. "That's just how the game works…" she replied. "The 'assholes' with a lot less or a lot more to lose will always use underhanded tactics. But, in the case of Dhelmise, all he does is say things that piss people off and distracts them, while simultaneously getting the challenges done."
"But," she continued. "That doesn't change anything. You still have a chance. And you have a lot to work with in order to push yourself further. Think about Lucario, think about everything Dhelmise has said to belittle you and everyone else. You're a strong, independent girl and I don't want you acting like it's the end of the world. You've got fight in you and I want you to use it…"
Hakamo-o sniffled, wiping her eyes before they hugged again.
"Well, you have a game to win," Lycanroc said amidst their embrace.
Hakamo-o sighed. "Alright…"
The two of them got onto their feet before heading back up to Lunala.
"I'm ready…" Hakamo-o said, having a semi-confident tone.
"Okay," Lunala said with a nod before gazing at Lycanroc tentatively. "Again, sorry…"
"Ah, it's fine," Lycanroc replied, waving her away. "I had fun for the most part, so there's no need for apologies. Now get going you two…"
Hakamo-o waved her hand goodbye, as Lycanroc suddenly felt tears form in her eyes as well. Lunala teleported away with her, and Lycanroc shakily sighed. She dove into the water and started her swim back to the shore.
000
And… there goes Lycanroc. Well… uh… it's pretty screwed. Dhelmise is still in this game somehow, Tsareena thought of herself, and Hakamo-o showed the most emotion she's ever had. Very interesting to say the least. Anyways, I hope that you enjoyed and I'll see you next time on Total… Pokemon… Alola! See ya guys, BYE!
000
"Read and review guys, just read and review," Lycanroc said with a giggle.
000
A Lycanroc flipped onto the scene in front of the camera. The room behind her had numerous claw marks and broken items. She stumbled a bit on the landing and giggled. "I guess that'll do. Anyways, hi, I'm Lycanroc! I'm generally a cool girl and I really like to have fun!"
She flopped down onto her bed, which caused cushioning to fly out from a few claw marks. "I've seen a few of the other shows like yours and I think this'll be very fun, too. So… yeah, I think that's all. You probably got a crap ton of tapes like this. Oh well. Thanks for listening…"
000
